“Yes, I suppose so.” She sped up once the deer were in the rearview mirror. Hers was the only car on the road. “We have each other, correct?”
“Correct. Um, did you seeThe Killing Hour?”
Even the name of the podcast infuriated Laurel. “Yes. I watched it on my phone in the hospital waiting room.” How could Huck speak to that viper again?
Kate groaned. “It was terrible, but if you read between the lines, I think Huck probably didn’t say anything like she inferred.”
“The point is that Huck spoke with her. With a reporter about an ongoing case.” Laurel’s throat ached from needing to yell. “We don’t agree on how to handle this series of murders, and I’m furious he might have hindered our investigation. Women are dying.”
“True. On that note, I’m going to bed. Get some sleep, friend. ’Night.”
“Good night.” Laurel pressed the end button on the dash. Friend? It was nice to have a friend. The sky had cleared but darkness shrouded the trees up ahead. She shivered and drove the freshly plowed Birch Tree Road, knowing she needed to sleep. This anger inside her was new. Logic usually ruled. Yet she took a turn she knew better than to take right now and barreled up a long and windy driveway to park in front of a log house fronting yet another river. This was a mistake.
She slipped out of the car with as minimal movement as possible and ducked her head against the frigid air. The walkway had been shoveled, so she easily made her way to the door. Before she could knock, it opened. “You asshole.”
Huck moved to the side. “Hi.”
She walked in, noting the fire rumbling in the fireplace and the television showing an old Ingrid Bergman movie.
“How’s Walter?” Huck shut the door and warmth surrounded her.
“It was rough, but he made it through.” She turned to face him. “You, on the other hand, are about to get kicked in the head. Why in the world would you talk to Rachel again? What’s her hold over you?”
“I don’t have any feelings left for Rachel, if that’s what you mean. I was just trying to do my job.” He looked like a solid force in a tumultuous world. Broad chest, long legs, piercing eyes. More than a day’s scruff covered his chiseled jaw, and he was utterly and enticingly male. “I didn’t say anything that would lead her to make such a report or say such things about you.”
“That’s not the damn point, Huck.” It was shocking how badly she wanted to punch him in the nose and leave a bump there for all eternity. She wasn’t a woman who lost control of her emotions. Ever.
“What’s the damn point, then?” He towered over her, his eyes flaring.
“The point is that you shouldn’t have talked to her at all. She ran with that one little fact. I told you not to talk to her.” The words rolled out of her mouth so quickly she had to stop and take a breath.
One of his dark eyebrows rose. “Told me? Youtoldme?”
“Yes,” she snapped.
“Well now, I guess not everyone jumps when Special Agent Laurel Snow gives an order,” he drawled, his facial expression showing anger. “You’re not the lead here, either. Many cops use reporters as sources, but that is not what I did today. Not even close.”
“No. You just made it more difficult for me to do my job. Period.” Why was she so jumbled when it came to him? Or was it this case? It just wasn’t making sense to her, and that was driving her crazy.
“That was not my intention,” he said, watching her carefully, intense emotion rolling off him.
She threw up her hands, adrenaline shooting through her body. “Your intention is irrelevant. You meant to speak with her, and it backfired.” She had to calm down, so she took a deep breath.
He tucked his thumbs in the pockets of his jeans. “Has your boss called?”
“Yes, but I was at the hospital and haven’t returned his call yet. It can wait until tomorrow.” She sucked in another breath and forced her hands to unclench. “I can repair this with the FBI, and if anything, the killer may relax if he sees the podcast and thinks we’re running in circles.”
“We are running in circles.”
She looked over at the sleeping dog. “The case will be okay. We’ll fix it.”
“I was more concerned about you,” Huck said.
Simple words. True words. She felt them instead of intellectualizing them, and her temper began to calm, even though energy still ripped through her with a frightening intensity. “Huck,” she whispered.
He studied her for one beat. “Yeah.” Then his hands were at her waist, lifting her, planting her against the side wall. His mouth was hot and desperate, his body rock hard against her.
She kissed him back, closing her eyes, allowing herself a rare moment to just feel. No thought. No analyzing. No anything but him. Her legs lifted on their own, her thighs pressing against his flanks. He tangled one hand in her hair, drawing her head to the side, deepening the kiss. Flames lashed through her in electric arcs, endorphins and oxytocin flooding her system to create a wild need she’d never experienced before.
